Our Website Privacy and Security Policy

The City and County of Denver is committed to protecting your individual privacy and securing your personal information made available to us when you visit DenverGov.org. This applies to other sites we maintain such as profiles on social networks, blogs and other official City and County of Denver sites.

Purpose

This policy outlines what type of information is made available to the City and County of Denver when you visit DenverGov.org or other official city pages on other sites, how we may use that information, whether we disclose it to anyone, and the choices you have to control and correct the information we collect.

When a computer is used to access information on DenverGov.org, the following basic information is automatically received and stored by our web servers:

Your computer’s Internet protocol address (IP address), which establishes your computer location on the internet and allows other computers, such as those hosting DenverGov.org, to send it content and other information;

The date, time, and duration of a website visit;

If a computer accesses a page on DenverGov.org through a link from an external page not hosted on our site, the URL of that referring page;

Your basic computer information, such as the type and version of web browser, operating system, screen resolution, and connection speed;

The specific pages accessed during a visit on DenverGov.org and the amount of data (measured in number of bytes) transmitted during the visit.

1.1.1 City and County of Denver website measurement and analytics

The City and County of Denver uses web measurement technologies to analyze data automatically collected during site visits. We analyze this information in order to provide and optimal user experience on DenverGov.org and to understand how the public is using our website. This is currently done through a third-party analytics provider, Google Analytics, by tracking persistent cookies and session cookies.

Our third-party analytics provider does not receive any personal identifying information to track the browsing of individual users. We do view aggregated analyses prepared by our third-party analytics provider,but these analyses do not include any personally identifiable information. Please review our third-party analytics provider’s privacy policy for additional information about what is collected.

Session cookies are used for technical reasons to facilitate efficient navigation through the site, for login sessions to remain persistent throughout a visit, and for generating aggregated statistics about how the website is used.

Persistent cookies are used to recognize a computer that has previously visited DenverGov.org, which can improve a user’s experience by maintaining settings, preferences, and storing data so pages load faster. DenverGov.org currently uses the following persistent cookies: When a visitor views a page, DenverGov.org sets three persistent cookies to measure website metrics such as popular pages and how often people visit the website. These cookies do not collect personal identifying information. We disclose only in aggregate form our statistical analyses or demographics of users to third parties.

1.2 Third-party website measurement

Certain pages on DenverGov.org may include web content from third-parties, such as embedded video, social media feeds, and other externally hosted services. You should consult the privacy policies of these third parties for further information.

1.2.1 How you can control website measurement and customization technologies

Visitors can control aspects of website measurement and data collection technologies by choosing to disable “cookies.”

You can choose not to accept cookies from any website, including DenverGov.org, by changing the settings of your browser. You can also delete cookies stored in your browser at any time. Visitors who choose to disable these settings will still continue to have access to comparable information on our site.

At any time, while interacting with our site(s) you may decline participation in any activity that asks for information (e.g. surveys, web-based apps, or email notifications). Your choice not to participate will not affect your ability to use other features on DenverGov.org.

Personal information submitted voluntarily to us through online web forms, email subscriptions and messages, or through interactive web-based applications will be used to respond to your message and to help us respond to your requests. The information you submit will remain private; however, as a governmental agency, we are governed by the Colorado Open Records Act. Any information that we receive through use of our site is subject to the same provisions as information provided on paper. We do not sell, rent, exchange, or otherwise disclose information we collect to outside organizations or persons outside the City and County of Denver.

This information is not reported or used in any manner that would reveal personally identifiable information, and will not be released to any outside parties unless we are legally required to do so in connection with law enforcement investigations or other legal proceedings.

In some instances, we may host content on a third-party website such as Facebook or Twitter. Your activity on those third-party sites is governed by the security and privacy policies of the third party sites.

1.2.3 User Accounts on DenverGov.org

Certain web-based applications or features on DenverGov.org may require users to create an account in order to access full functionality or restricted areas of the site. Account creation requires users to provide a valid email address and a first and last name. We use this information to communicate with you and to identify content you create or request with the account. Session cookies are required with users accounts in order to maintain a user's login while interacting with the site.

As a governmental agency, we are governed by the Colorado Open Records Act. Any information that we receive through use of our site is subject to the same provisions as information provided on paper. We do not disclose, sell, rent, or exchange your information or the email address you use to create your account to individuals or organizations outside the City and County of Denver. Some of the information provided to set up a user account such as your zip code, as well as user-generated content (e.g. compilations of public comments posted to the site with the account) may be treated as public information.

The City and County of Denver may link to websites created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations. We provide these links as a service to our users at our discretion. When you follow a link to an external site, you are leaving DenverGov.org and are no longer subject to our privacy and security policies, but those of the externally hosted website. The City and County of Denver does not endorse any external site, the views they express, or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information contained in an externally linked site.

The City and County of Denver maintains official content on several third-party websites to engage with the community and communicate with users through multiple channels. All activities on third-party sites are governed by the security and privacy policies of the third party.

The City and County of Denver and its various departments maintain lists of subscribers who have asked to receive periodic email updates about various topics. Any recipient of a City and County of Denver email may unsubscribe from future messages via a link at the top or bottom of each email message. We do not sell, rent, exchange with other agencies, or otherwise disclose our list of subscribers to persons or organizations outside the City and County of Denver unless legally required to do so in connection with law enforcement investigations or other legal proceedings. As a governmental agency, we are governed by theColorado Open Records Act. Any information that we receive through our email subscription services is subject to the same provisions as information provided on paper.

Email messages sent from the City and County of Denver to email subscribers may include a tracking pixel to provide basic analytics such as the percentage of recipients who opened an email, clicked links within the email, shared or forwarded its contents, information about the email clients used by various email recipients. Our email analytics providers, such as MailChimp and Constant Contact, also offer the capability to view individual data about whether an email was opened.

The City and County of Denver maintains several web based applications in which users can subscribe to receive notifications about schedules (e.g. street sweeping, trash and recycling pickup). At any time, users may opt-out of notices provided by our web-based applications via a link at the top or bottom of each email notification.

We take several precautions to protect our site including information collected by our site or voluntarily submitted to DenverGov.org or to an official City and County of Denver page on a third-party website. We utilize industry standard technology practices and technical controls to protect your information and the integrity of our site. For example, we encrypt the transfer of personal information over the Internet via Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), using firewalls and intrusion detection systems to safeguard your personal information. Our controls also include, but are not limited to, maintaining strict technical procedures to ensure the integrity of systems and data on DenverGov.org. We routinely review our processes and systems to verify compliance with industry best practices and the highest level of security standards.

During a session on Denvergov.org, a user may affirmatively submit information to the City and County of Denver by, among other means, email, filling in and submitting online forms, or electing to personalize pocketgov.com and use it as a customized portal. The city encourages users of its website and other digital applications to only provide information that is required or requested, and to avoid including unneeded, personally identifiable information (PII), such as social security numbers.